Geek Daytonhttp://www.geekdayton.com
By Geeks. For Geeks.Sun, 02 Jul 2017 11:28:34 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1108329404Celebrate Galatune This Saturday at D20!http://www.geekdayton.com/things-to-do/celebrate-galatune-saturday-d20/
http://www.geekdayton.com/things-to-do/celebrate-galatune-saturday-d20/#respondThu, 13 Apr 2017 11:30:39 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3339The day has finally come: Galatune has arrived in Dayton! This has been a long awaited moment for many fans, local and otherwise. So why not celebrate at our favorite board gaming bar with free cake and pizza this Saturday? The itinerary for the evening is as such: 6pm: Party starts! Free pizza available, open gaming begins, and the Galatune store opens for the very first time! Did you back at a level that gets you a copy and some swag? Pick it up early! 7pm: Big group photo which Adam will probably frame in his apartment like a sentimental nerd! … Read more

I’m not biased in the slightest, but it seems like the best character in the game (who I might have Kickstarted) is missing from this picture…

The day has finally come: Galatune has arrived in Dayton! This has been a long awaited moment for many fans, local and otherwise. So why not celebrate at our favorite board gaming bar with free cake and pizza this Saturday?

The itinerary for the evening is as such:6pm: Party starts! Free pizza available, open gaming begins, and the Galatune store opens for the very first time! Did you back at a level that gets you a copy and some swag? Pick it up early!7pm: Big group photo which Adam will probably frame in his apartment like a sentimental nerd! Good for him!7:15pm: Emotional Toast & Galatune Cake Cutting (which better be with a sword, so help me)

D20: A Bar With Characters is located at 2144 East Whipp Rd, Kettering, Ohio 45440. See the above timetable for an idea of what’s happening when, and if you have further questions, see the Facebook event page here. Please party in my honor as I have a prior commitment. Play as Akimi or Proto, remember to keep an eye on your opponents’ elements, and have fun!

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/things-to-do/celebrate-galatune-saturday-d20/feed/03339Nitpicking: Logan and The Lego Batman Moviehttp://www.geekdayton.com/movies/nitpicking-logan-lego-batman/
http://www.geekdayton.com/movies/nitpicking-logan-lego-batman/#respondMon, 20 Mar 2017 12:32:19 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3296Confession time: I’ve never felt terribly comfortable doing reviews here on GeekDayton. Frankly, I’m very easily entertained, which is not what you want in a critical viewpoint. For reference, here’s some films I admit to enjoying: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows (which even got a review on this very site) Short Circuit 2 The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 And there’s not much distinction between enjoying “bad” movies and just enjoying bad movies. I enjoy Drive Angry, a Nicolas Cage film in which he plays a grandfather who drives … Read more

]]>Confession time: I’ve never felt terribly comfortable doing reviews here on GeekDayton. Frankly, I’m very easily entertained, which is not what you want in a critical viewpoint. For reference, here’s some films I admit to enjoying:

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows (which even got a review on this very site)

Short Circuit 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2

And there’s not much distinction between enjoying “bad” movies and just enjoying bad movies. I enjoy Drive Angry, a Nicolas Cage film in which he plays a grandfather who drives out of hell to save his grandkid and drink beer out of a cultist’s skull. I enjoy it to the point that if it’s up against a proper good movie, it’d be a tough choice. Here’s a trailer.

However, the one thing I can do is pick out plotholes that make no sense. I spent hours standing outside of the theater after watching Batman V Superman discussing all the stupid little things (along with the stupid big things, of which there were many) with my friends. So I figured, instead of me pretending that my opinion stands between someone and seeing a film, why not point out the flaws that bother me and things that I’d change in the films I know people are already going to see?

Welcome to Nitpicking, what I hope will be a nice post-film discussion starter for anyone who cares to read it. To start with, why not the two big super-flicks that semi-recently come out? They’ve both been universally acclaimed, obviously for very different reasons, so why shouldn’t I take a few potshots? I’ve seen them both twice, so I’ve been stewing on these flaws for quite a bit. It goes without saying, but there are spoilers in this.

Damn, there’s some production value in that logo. Now I have to commit to writing more of these or that’s just wasted.

LOGAN

Right off the bat, why wasn’t her ball in the pile of rocks covering Logan’s grave? She had that dumb bouncy ball in the beginning and it seemed like it could have ended up as important a Chekov’s Gun as the adamantium bullet, but instead it disappears and never comes back. Why focus on it in the beginning at all? She should have left it at the grave, it would have been one more gutpunch in a scene already chock-full of them.

Speaking of the beginning, no lie, I slept through the first half hour or so in my second viewing of the film. It was inconsequential. Logan begins so slowly, there’s so much fat that could have been trimmed from the final cut. Honestly, they could have dropped 80% of Gabriella’s screentime with no loss. If Logan had only met her upon her requesting the limo ride, nothing would have been lost. He wouldn’t have had to lie to Donald about not having seen her since he had zero reason to do so when he did. Frankly, if Logan had only learned who she was through the video on her phone, that would have been far better than multiple separate interactions that do little to inspire grief upon learning that she has died.

Where are the others? What happened in Westchester? We can guess that Xavier had his first big seizure, probably killed some or most of the X-Men since the X-Mansion was located in Westchester, and ended up in Mexico against his will to avoid investigation. That seems like a lot, but none of that is confirmed; it’s all somewhat lofty assumption. There was supposed to be a flashback to the incident, but it was cut to “focus on character first” instead of… learning about what caused the characters to be in the situation they’re in. The director said “Just let it live in the background of all these characters.” That’s a nice idea, but we need just a smidge more detail to be comfortable rather than leaving it at “Xavier did a bad”.

Speaking of missing mutants, where are the new mutants? They seem to explain away their disappearance by saying that they’ve put some kind of mutant gene suppressant in corn syrup. That’s fair, I guess, except… Hipsters exist? Like they say no mutant has been born since 2004, but there’s gotta be people raising kids in that time frame who are only feeding their kids all-natural mega-vegan food that lacks the anti-mutant sugar ingredient. That’s not to speak of poor countries with people who can’t afford much more than rice and the like. Without some kind of chem trail bullshit, there’s no explanation for their corn syrup ending up in *every* diet on earth. They could have explained it far better by saying that Xavier accidentally wiped out the mutant gene in humanity somehow. It’s lofty and would come as a huge blow to his long-standing character, but it’s not like this movie didn’t already do that in other ways. There’s ways to make that make sense, and their writers are far better paid than I am to fix issues like this.

X marks the plot hole.

Why did Logan die? Seriously, even disregarding that the kids would likely have more than just one bottle of the X-steroid if they had any in the first place, it just doesn’t make sense story-wise. Charles’ died in the pursuit of keeping Laura safe, wouldn’t it have made sense for his “disappointment” of a protege to carry on his legacy by taking care of these kids? That’s the plotline we should have resolved, not “Logan thinks about death a lot”. There’s no assurance that these kids are safe, and there’s no reason to kill Logan beyond letting Hugh Jackman off the hook for a sequel. I understand that he’s done with the character (probably), but that shouldn’t mean capping off a great legacy with a shoddy ending. Even if you were expecting it to happen just like with Superman in BvS, you gotta admit that seeing those rocks start to move just after Laura leaves the frame would have been a huge relief and a light note in an otherwise dark film.

So, in summary,

PUT BALL ON GRAVE

SHORTEN FILM, LESSEN NEED FOR NAPTIME

CUT GABRIELLA

EXPLAIN WESTCHESTER

EXPLAIN WHY VEGANS DON’T EXIST ANYMORE

HAVE XAVIER KILL MUTANTS

EXPLAIN THE LACK OF MORE BACKUP X-JUICE

DON’T KILL LOGAN

Alright, now onto the other “dark” film that’s come out recently.

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

There wasn’t a Bat-credit card joke.

That’s literally my only complaint.

So, in summary,

MAKE A BAT-CREDIT CARD JOKE PLEASE

That’s all for Nitpicking this time around. Feel free to disagree with me here in the comments, or in the comments of the Facebook post. Hell, tweet me about it. That’s what all the kids are using these days, I won’t pretend to be an exception.

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/movies/nitpicking-logan-lego-batman/feed/03296Flicks Worth Clicks?: Matrix Reboot, Venom, and DC Switch-Uphttp://www.geekdayton.com/movies/flicks-worth-clicks-matrix-venom-dc/
http://www.geekdayton.com/movies/flicks-worth-clicks-matrix-venom-dc/#respondFri, 17 Mar 2017 21:01:26 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3313Man, there’s a lot of movie news flying at our faces every day now that there’s like 80 different cinematic universes to deal with. Here’s my attempt to pare down some of that into nuggets of fun (most of the nuggets are not fun). THERE MIGHT BE A MATRIX REBOOT The Hollywood Reporter reported an exclusive story that Warner Bros. is in very early stages of developing a reboot of the Keanu Reeves classic. This is a very bad idea. Joel Silver, producer of the original trilogy, is reportedly spearheading the project and pushing it to exist despite the cries … Read more

Man, there’s a lot of movie news flying at our faces every day now that there’s like 80 different cinematic universes to deal with. Here’s my attempt to pare down some of that into nuggets of fun (most of the nuggets are not fun).

THERE MIGHT BE A MATRIX REBOOT

The Hollywood Reporter reported an exclusive story that Warner Bros. is in very early stages of developing a reboot of the Keanu Reeves classic. This is a very bad idea.

Joel Silver, producer of the original trilogy, is reportedly spearheading the project and pushing it to exist despite the cries of thousands of dweebs who don’t want to have to get mad about this in a few years. Keanu has gone on record saying he’d be down to do another installment if the Wachowskis write and direct, but there is no word on them being attached to these plans. Apparently, Zak Penn (The Avengers, X-Men 2 and 3, Last Action Hero) is in talks to write a treatment.

Unfortunately, it seems no one told poor Zak:

All I can say at this point is no one could or should REBOOT the Matrix. People who know Animatrix and the comics understand.

So, let’s hope that their apparent dream writer’s clear disinterest in a reboot will convince them to do, y’know, anything else. And let’s be real, nothing they can do now could damage the original film more than its two sequels. I’m sure they could write up a solid Morpheus origins story, is Donald Glover doing anything?

VENOM IS GETTING A MOVIE. NEXT YEAR. YEAH.

Remember when there were like 4 planned spin-offs from the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man universe? Including a Sinister Six movie that probably would have been similarly awful to Suicide Squad? Yeah, the second Marvel decided to let Sony play in their sandbox, those plans went out a window. Probably for the best.

Apparently, whoever was hurting for a Spidey villain film at Sony still has some clout, because it was announced that Venom is getting his own solo film swinging into theaters on October 5th, 2018. Scott Rosenburg (Con Air, Gone in Sixty Seconds (is Nic Cage playing Venom?), Kangaroo Jack) and Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Fringe) will be writing the script, with no director attached just yet. That’s a whole lot of non-news for a movie supposedly going into production very soon. Speaking of which…

DC STILL DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING

As if that wasn’t obvious already, DC is continuing their reign of confusion by… Well, I’ll let the man himself explain.

With BATMAN likely shooting in 2018, WB still would like one more DC property to shoot this year other than AQUAMAN

While I appreciate this Variety reporter’s hopes that Warner Bros. is content only shooting Aquaman this year, somehow I doubt that scripts not being “ready to go” has really ever stopped them in the past. Those 5 films he’s referring to are:

Gotham Sirens, the surprisingly-not-terrible sounding Harley Quinn-centric film that already has a director in previously-disappointing David Ayer.

The Flash, which can’t compare to the CW show so why even bother trying?

Green Lantern Corps, which will be pointless since they can’t bring Michael Clarke Duncan back from the dead to voice Kilowog again.

Suicide Squad 2, which will equate the ticket buying experience with the same feeling I get putting my third Hot Pocket of the day into the microwave.

Dark Universe, which is a Justice League Dark-style super-edgy DC film. Because we needed an exceptionally dark DC film, as opposed to the bright, fun ones we’ve already seen. God, if del Toro wasn’t attached to this, it’d have less going for it than Suicide Squad 2.

Alright, that’s probably everything. Until next week (or whenever the next pile of film news bombshells fall onto my metaphorical lap), go watch something good. Have you seen The Losers yet? You really should, it’s based on a Vertigo comic series and it’s just delightful.

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/movies/flicks-worth-clicks-matrix-venom-dc/feed/03313This Saturday in Dayton: Two Events, Twice the Fun!http://www.geekdayton.com/things-to-do/saturday-dayton-two-events-twice-fun/
http://www.geekdayton.com/things-to-do/saturday-dayton-two-events-twice-fun/#respondFri, 17 Feb 2017 19:06:09 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3258This Saturday, Dayton has not one, but two excellent events to check out! DayCon Game Day Running from 9AM to 10PM, come check out a day filled with tabletop gaming of all sorts! Board games, roleplaying games, and more are all here to be played. The show is held in the Rona Banquet Hall, located at 1043 Rona Parkway, Fairborn, Ohio 45324. For a full schedule of games, click here. Studio Akumakaze’s Independent Creators Expo and Film Festival I.C.E. is both a showcase of local creators and a film festival showing local films! With events running all day long, there’s no … Read more

Running from 9AM to 10PM, come check out a day filled with tabletop gaming of all sorts! Board games, roleplaying games, and more are all here to be played. The show is held in the Rona Banquet Hall, located at 1043 Rona Parkway, Fairborn, Ohio 45324. For a full schedule of games, click here.

I.C.E. is both a showcase of local creators and a film festival showing local films! With events running all day long, there’s no shortage of things to do and see. The event is located in the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, at 7701 Washington Village Dr., Dayton, OH 45459. For a list of local creators (including comic artists, crafters, musicians, and more!), check out their website here. For a full schedule of films, click here.

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/things-to-do/saturday-dayton-two-events-twice-fun/feed/03258Build Your Board Game Collection For a Dollar a Day! Pt 2http://www.geekdayton.com/games/board-game-collection-for-a-dollar-a-day-3/
http://www.geekdayton.com/games/board-game-collection-for-a-dollar-a-day-3/#respondThu, 05 Jan 2017 05:55:00 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3233Hi, folks! I hope your holidays were filled with good times and lots of games. But I’m not writing this to small talk about family gatherings, so let’s just jump right into another edition of how to Build Your Board Game Collection For a Dollar a Day! If you’re just joining us, make sure you check out the first installment of the series here. This time around I’m gonna talk about cooperative games. On the off-chance you can’t figure it out from the descriptor “cooperative,” these are games where everyone wins together or everyone loses. What about the tension from … Read more

Hi, folks! I hope your holidays were filled with good times and lots of games. But I’m not writing this to small talk about family gatherings, so let’s just jump right into another edition of how to Build Your Board Game Collection For a Dollar a Day!

If you’re just joining us, make sure you check out the first installment of the series here. This time around I’m gonna talk about cooperative games. On the off-chance you can’t figure it out from the descriptor “cooperative,” these are games where everyone wins together or everyone loses. What about the tension from player conflict, you may be asking aloud. Well, instead of your fellow players throwing wrenches into your well-laid plans, the game itself will be hurling wrenches at you.

The first game I’m going to talk about is Pandemic. In Pandemic, you and up to three additional players are fighting epidemics breaking out across the globe. You accomplish this by using a limited number of actions to directly treat a city, travel to another city, or trade cards with another player. With enough cards of the same type, you can develop a cure for the disease. To win, you have to cure all diseases before you run out of time or resources. Now, at MSRP, Pandemic is out of our 30 dollar monthly budget, but it’s often on sale for around $25. However, Pandemic is quite a popular “gateway” game for new players, and you can find used copies fairly easily.

Which brings me to my next tip for saving money on boardgames. Buy them used. You don’t get the joy of punching out the tokens yourself, and all the new game smell is gone, but you can save significant money buying used. And saving money on games means you can get more games with the money you save!

Can’t find Pandemic cheap enough? Try Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert. They’re made by Z-Man Games, the designers of Pandemic, and they’re both lighter games. In each, your team is trying to achieve a goal before the terrain disappears. Forbidden Island is the lighter of the two, and can be had for about 12 bucks. I saw it on the shelf at Walgreens, even, so it shouldn’t be hard to find. Forbidden Desert is a little more complex, and runs about $20.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue is also mechanically similar to Pandemic, but instead of saving the world, you’re rescuing people from a burning building. Flash Point plays up to six players, whereas Pandemic plays up to four. So, if you have a slightly larger group, Flash Point may be the way to go. It’s similarly priced to Pandemic, at about $25.

The next co-op game I’ll talk about is FUSE. Fuse is ostensibly about disarming explosives by solving logic puzzles, but the theme gets swept aside by adrenaline while you’re playing. Yes, adrenaline from a boardgame. The game runs exactly ten minutes while players furiously roll dice, negotiate how to divvy them to solve their personal tasks, and then pass the dice to the next player. Each player has cards in front of them with their personal tasks, which range from simply having four different colors of dice, to having to build a pyramid from dice, with specific colors on each level. Other tasks include making a line of dice in which each number is greater than the last, or placing four dice that balance a simple equation. If numbers and pattern recognition are your thing, try Fuse. Or, if you just like cool dice, FUSE comes with 25 six sided dice in five colors, but the numbers all look like they’re from one of those 80’s digital watches. FUSE runs about 15 bucks on Amazon.

Hanabi is a game about fireworks where you have to play numbered cards in order, but you can’t see your own cards. Other players can see them, though, and may spend their action to give you partial information about the number or color of cards you have. Other communication is limited, so players must make the most of the hints they do have to finish the patterns. Hanabi is about 8 dollars online.

“Numbers, logic puzzles, trading resources, BAH! I want ACTION!” some of you are probably saying. Well, do I have a game for you and up to five friends! Space Hulk: Death Angel is all about mowing down hordes of aliens with large weaponry in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Each player has a squad of three heavily armored troops with varying special abilities, and can choose one of three actions each round. You can move, you can shoot, or you can support one of the troops, which gives them a token good for one die reroll. Each round, several alien “Genestealers” pour in through the ductwork, and the players try to stem the rising tide of doom. A normal attack gives a 50% chance to kill an alien, and the more of them there are in one spot, the less likely it is for your dudes to survive. Now, I can’t accurately give you a price for this one. It’s out of print forever, but there’s still copies in stock for the base game. It’s been hovering around 22 dollars on amazon for a while. So, if this sounds like a game for you, and it doesn’t yet cost a month of rent. Grab it, grab it, grab it now. It’s also great to play solo.

And finally for this article, I’ll mention Castle Panic. If you dig tower defense games, this is the co-op for you. It’s also got an “Overlord” mode, with one player vs. everyone else. Or, if you like zombies, it’s been redone as Dead Panic. Do you want a little more conflict in your cooperation? Munchkin Panic. And if you prefer Star Trek, defend the Enterprise in (you guessed it) Star Trek Panic. Each of these is in the 20 to 30 dollar range, mostly depending on how recent it is. Check for used copies if your preferred flavor is too many dollars.

So, here’s where I tell you how to spend money. If Space Hulk: Death Angel sounds even remotely interesting, get it before it’s gone forever. Then with the remaining eight-ish bucks, get Hanabi. If Space Hulk: Death Angel is not at all interesting to you, get Forbidden Island and Fuse. Or, get whatever combination of games that sounds interesting to you and is within your budget.

Now that you’ve spent your gaming budget for the month, let’s talk about some free digital boardgames to tide you over until your next game night.

Star Realms is a quick sci-fi flavored deckbuilder game, where you recruit from four factions. With the digital version, you can play through a campaign, or single games against the AI. Like most free boardgame conversions, there are in-app purchases for additional content, but they are not mandatory to enjoy the game. It’s available for Android, iOS, and through Steam on PC.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game lets you command a party of fantasy adventurers through a number of campaigns and single games. You can get more content through in-app purchases, or you can grind in-game gold to buy more characters, equipment, and adventures. This one is just for smartphones and tablets of the Android or iOS varieties.

The KeldonAI program is a third-party engine for Race For The Galaxy and the first three expansions. Race For The Galaxy is a euro-style tableau builder where you build a galactic empire, racing the other players for the most victory points before the end of the game. There’s a lot of iconography to learn, and the KeldonAI does not have a tutorial, so you’ll need to look up a video to teach you how to play. Race is quite deep, with many strategies to win, and vast replayability. Rio Grande Games has give the KeldonAI permission to be distributed, so it’s all on the up and up. And here’s a protip: Race For The Galaxy is about $20 in cardboard form, and I’ll be telling you to buy it at some point in the near future, so take the time to learn it now, for free.

Boardnaut Studios has converted a number of print-and-play games from the BoardGameGeek forums into Android and iOS apps. Maquis is my favorite of them so far. It’s a solo player worker placement style game where you’re playing as the French resistance in WWII. It’s quite hard, and though the AI does not react to your actions, it seems to always do exactly the most disruptive action. You can also create your own physical copy from file on the BoardGameGeek page.

There are many, many games you can play through a web browser. That particular list is a few years old, but most of the links are current. There’s also a whole subforum on BoardGameGeek dedicated to digital boardgaming. No matter if you prefer wargames, abstract games, or any other kind of board game, there’s a vast amount of cardboard-free boardgaming out there. I’ve just scratched the surface in this article.

And now we’ve come to the end of this installment, and I still don’t have a clever way to end these articles. Until the next time I give you ideas on how to spend money, it’s up to you to save the world, put out fires, escape a sinking island, blast apart aliens, protect a castle, or arrange a fireworks show with your co-players. That should keep you busy and having fun, for the low, low price of about a dollar a day.

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/games/board-game-collection-for-a-dollar-a-day-3/feed/03233Cursed Uno: An Essay on Heartbreakhttp://www.geekdayton.com/games/cursed-uno-essay-heartbreak/
http://www.geekdayton.com/games/cursed-uno-essay-heartbreak/#respondMon, 02 Jan 2017 20:17:48 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3188Every regular gaming group probably has a game like this. This isn’t the game you pull out for new players, established players’ visiting significant others, or children. This is the nitty-gritty, friendship-demolishing, table-flipping, night-ending monstrosity. Here’s ours. To preface, my game night group is already a mess. It’s a ragtag group of broke late-teens/early-20s barely-cognizant piles of stress and medical issues. For some reason, we all get together about once a week to play a couple terrible, awful games. Betrayal at House on the Hill, The Resistance, Jenga, Coup, just all the most soul-numbing possible games for people who already suffer … Read more

]]>Every regular gaming group probably has a game like this. This isn’t the game you pull out for new players, established players’ visiting significant others, or children. This is the nitty-gritty, friendship-demolishing, table-flipping, night-ending monstrosity.

Here’s ours.

tl;dr: The full rules to Cursed Uno are available at the bottom of this post, if that’s all you’re interested in.

To preface, my game night group is already a mess. It’s a ragtag group of broke late-teens/early-20s barely-cognizant piles of stress and medical issues. For some reason, we all get together about once a week to play a couple terrible, awful games. Betrayal at House on the Hill, The Resistance, Jenga, Coup, just all the most soul-numbing possible games for people who already suffer enough. The top dog “Bad Game” for a long time was The Resistance.

For those unfamiliar, The Resistance is a game about lying to your friends and getting very mad when you find out they’ve been lying too. It’s a standard Werewolf-esque “some people are good, some people are bad, and you only have people’s word on which is which” premise, with the added goal of Completing Missions. Said missions can be passed or failed by the individual members on them. The members are chosen by the leader who changes each round. There are many, many ways this can and does go wrong. It was bad.

Then we played Coup.

Coup, by the creators of The Resistance, is pretty much Resistance minus any possible chance of working together. You’re given two roles, which can range from very helpful to Ambassador, the unanimously agreed-upon worst role. You can take different actions on your turn depending on your roles, and other players may decide to block based upon their roles. Once again, you’re expected to figure out if they’re lying or not. The goal is to eliminate all other players and, well, stage a coup. It’s hellish. My group played it at one of GeekDayton’s board game nights at Proto Buildbar once. It got… Rowdy. It’s not a game to play in public, to say the least. It was the worst.

Then my neighbor died.

I don’t mean to make light of this in any sense, it’s very unfortunate that he passed. However, I didn’t know that news when I came home at 3am after a late night excursion to Taco Bell to see a large pile of free trash nearby. These piles have often given up excellent treasures for my favorite price of “carrying it into my house”. so I meandered over and checked it out. I turned down the fishing pole, car headlight, and half-full bag of dog food, but I did walk away with a copy of Uno. Wrapped in a thin white rubber band, it looked harmless enough. Sure, a couple card edges might have gotten hit with a red marker at some point, but it was fine. So I brought it inside, set it on a counter, and put away my coat/hat/wallet/etc.

I did not find it again for 3 weeks.

Curses aren’t real, things can’t be haunted, and even if they could, a card game for children is not something important enough to haunt. That being said, finding out the copy of Uno I picked up the previous night belonged to a now-dead man and then being unable to find said copy of Uno for almost a month is enough to rattle me. I finally found it in a drawer I did not put it in, and brought it to game night to regale everyone with the story of this dumb cursed copy of Uno. Here’s where the chaos begun.

Very long explanation short, in the 3 weeks my copy of Uno was missing, I ended up watching a nearly 3-hour long YouTube video of 5 idiots playing the Uno video game with certain extra rules in play that extended the game to such a ridiculous length. It ended up making it to #1 on iMDB’s list of user-rated comedy films as a joke. Here it is, if you’re bored enough:

These extra rules included the ability to change hands with other players when certain cards are played. When a 0 is played, everyone’s hands rotate in the direction of play. When a 7 is played, that player must switch hands with any other player. These rules utterly destroy the important part of Uno where you don’t know what your neighbor has so you end up playing a card that leads him to victory. These rules practically get rid of the only win condition in Uno. These rules are hell.

So we tried them.

I don’t recall specific details besides a decent amount of screaming in that first game. It was a short game, though. They always start out like normal games, until the last one. At some point during the night, the game changed from “playing Uno with cards that are cursed” to the far more serious “Cursed Uno”. New house rules were decided upon. Upon playing a Draw 2, the player had to say “Pot of Greed” because of some dumb Yu-Gi-Oh reference I don’t understand. Playing a reverse meant you had to say “Here’s looking at you, kid”, which comes from a particular player in Uno: The Movie saying it about a dozen times after reversing to whichever player had just gone before him. Not saying them would net you a 2 card penalty.

Because what Uno needed was more excuses to draw cards.

We played it a few more times over the following couple weeks, each to worse and worse endings. It always followed a pattern. The first game was rocky due to new players not knowing all the intricacies of the new rules. The middle games were pretty quick, but grudges were started in this stage. The last game lasts at least 15 minutes, involves screaming, more grudges, many reshuffles of the discard pile, and likely ends with two or more players conspiring to make someone win so it can finally end. It’s actually sweet, the standard game leaves very little room for teamwork, so this version always ending in it was a small plus. Until it didn’t end that way.

The last time Cursed Uno was played at game night was a little over a week before Christmas. It was actually right after I visited D20, and it was with 2 friends who escorted me there to check out the place. We all agreed it’d be an excellent place to check out once it opened, and resolved to head back to a house and play games or something. At this point, I was carrying Cursed Uno in my coat pocket just in case I needed to teach its horror to someone on the go. So we returned to the house and started to play.

One final rule to Cursed Uno, which you may or may not be familiar with due to it’s debated placement as a real rule, is the Challenge. If a player plays a Wild card, another player may decide to challenge it’s legitimacy. The challenged player then shows their hand. If they had an alternate card they could have played, they take penalty cards. If not, the challenger takes the cards. This is particularly rough with a Wild Draw Four, because the card’s player would draw the four cards instead of the person it was played on.

This is rarely remembered as a rule, but it was discussed prior to this final game being played.

This ends friendships.

It started off the usual way, with a quick game to reacquaint everyone with just how awful this game is. The middle game went just as fast. I don’t have an exact time for the final game, but it was at least 20 minutes and all 3 of our mental states were destroyed. We had gone through the deck so many times, we resolved to never play again without someone sitting out just to shuffle the deck so play wouldn’t have to be postponed so often. Usually, at this point, someone would have proposed a truce and the game would have been quickly “won”. There were two reasons that didn’t happen this time:

Our standard “peacekeeper” player was not in attendance.

The three people who were in attendance, myself included, are the most spiteful and petty of the group and there was no one around to keep us from going full-M.A.D.

So we kept going. And going. It got to the point where truces were made just to screw with the third player, not even to win. One of these ended up ending the game. My at-the-time partner-in-crime kept telling me to reverse so he could play a card on the third player. Turn after turn, begging for a reverse on my part. I finally drew one, and upon playing it, my partner then threw down a Wild Draw 4. I knew he had plenty of every color, there was no reason he had to play that.

This was his final mistake.

Without moving a muscle but my eyes, I looked him square in his and said, “I challenge that.”

You know that saying about watching the light in someone’s eyes slowly go out? It was like that, if the light bulb exploded instead of fading. His hand was thrown to the floor, and he stood up, yelling out “WELL, GOODBYE GUYS, SEEYA, GOODBYE, LATER GUYS”. Me and the third player couldn’t stop laughing, as he GOODBYE’d himself into his shoes and coat. He went out the door, and about 10 seconds later, we each get sent a picture of the house taken from his car with the caption “GOODBYE”. We did not stop laughing.

Then he didn’t come back. The laughing continued as I looked out the window to ascertain that yes, the car was gone. He must be doing a lap around the block for effect. There’s no way he actually left because of Uno, right? At a certain point, I began to entertain the thought that he might have actually left. I then received a second picture of his own house with the caption, “Y’all are dicks”. I couldn’t argue. That was the last time I played Cursed Uno, and unsurprisingly, the last time board game night was held. We’ll probably start up again in the new year, we can just all use a break from this game and each other right now. I don’t think I’ll be bringing it back.

I’m sure there are a few sick bastards among you who want to play this game, and to you I say, why?But I am here to please, so below, you will see all the additional rules you’ll need to ruin your very own game night in a single sheet. Enjoy, beware, and please let me know how it goes.

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/games/cursed-uno-essay-heartbreak/feed/03188Integrity Matters to Us: Theft is Not Cool This Year or Nexthttp://www.geekdayton.com/geek-gab/theft-of-oc-not-okay/
http://www.geekdayton.com/geek-gab/theft-of-oc-not-okay/#respondFri, 30 Dec 2016 06:32:51 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3211Sup nerds: An apology of sorts- Recently we had to remove an article from our site, the Facebook and our Twitter. I won’t go into the details, suffice it to say we had something submitted to us by a guest author that we posted. Recently, we had the actual original creator send us an email calling out the theft. He was real mad. Shit. I’m not justifying the stealing. Here’s the issue: Writing is tough. Writing on a consistent basis is tough. Having people other than me write, write consistently, and write good things that other people want to read… is … Read more

Recently we had to remove an article from our site, the Facebook and our Twitter. I won’t go into the details, suffice it to say we had something submitted to us by a guest author that we posted. Recently, we had the actual original creator send us an email calling out the theft. He was real mad.

Britney bitch. I cite sources.

Shit.

I’m not justifying the stealing. Here’s the issue: Writing is tough. Writing on a consistent basis is tough. Having people other than me write, write consistently, and write good things that other people want to read… is tough. We try to bring you insightful articles and reviews on a regular basis. We try to cover as much diversity as possible, bring you local Dayton-esque things, and make sure we even get to the more obscure nerdery. We have a bevy of writers that have submitted things over the past year. We check for plagiarism and copyright infringement as best we can, it’s still tough. The combination of being excited for new and “original” content from other Daytonians sometimes overtakes our ability to do thorough checking. And unfortunately, we missed one. And that sucks large.

Larry and I both work in fields where creative original creations are a must. And protecting those creations are a constant battle. So to hear that we were hosting stolen content hurts, and hearing from the actual creator? Even worse.

In theater, it’s understood that there will be some slight borrowing of ideas from other productions. It’s fairly common. You’ll snag something from a movie, a color pallette from another show, some blocking elements from a play, and you mix it all together and make it your own. But a word for word and scene by scene restaging of a production without the original creators consent? That’ll get a beating.

Storytime-

Years ago in college, we did a production of a long running musical. We even invited the original author of the musical to come help with the production. Now, we weren’t doing the exact presentation of the musical like everyone else had. Apparently, the contracts required that we do it word for word and scene for scene, down to the very fabrics used for the costumes.

The author realized this, and threw a fit accordingly. He said something to the extent of “I created this, so if you’re going to perform it, you have to perform exactly what I created.” Part of me agreed, it was his work. Another part of me, the aspiring thespian, got frustrated at it ‘that’s the whole point of art, your own interpretation’. It was hard to convince myself it was still art, when it was just a complete recreation.

In the end, we did his version, as we were contracted to do so. The original production we had planned before his involvement was extremely different.

Point is, creating something is art. Copying something is not. It’s that simple. Creating something original takes effort, passion and time. Creating things is what keeps us sane.

If you can’t create something, promote. Don’t copy.

While you might not be able to come up with an original idea, or a beautiful picture or song, that’s ok. Promote the things you enjoy, tell people about what you love and share what you find to be beautiful. If you like a particular picture, share it. If it’s not yours that’s fine, just don’t claim that it is.

Especially in the nerd world. Thirty years ago, a person making their own superhero costume would have been considered a little weird. Now look at today. Cosplaying is big business. Yes, at times you are copying someone else’s design, but you’re never claiming that design as your own, you’re praising the designs of another by making a representation of it.

“You should consider that Imitation is the most acceptable part of Worship, and that the Gods had much rather Mankind should Resemble, than Flatter them.” –Jeremy Collier and André Dacier

“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery.” – Eustace Budgell

“Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.” – Charles Caleb Colton

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” – Oscar Wilde

Well this is awkward. The line between imitation and stealing is the intent. Each of these quotes says essentially the same thing, but with different wording. If you want to imitate a great work of art, a costume, or a song, do it. That’s high praise indeed, but just make sure you remember where you got it from.

ANTHONY CLARK MADE THIS.

That’s the one. At the end of the day, the nerd culture is weird. It’s full of people who still remember being picked on and hiding their passions. Don’t come in here with your ego and nonsense and steal others ideas. Creating something is scary, people are judgy as hell out there. So to have someone create something for the nerd masses is awesome. To have someone else claim it for their own is not.

For us, we want to apologize for hosting stolen content. We also want to give an explanation as to why we don’t post as often as some sites. It’s hard bringing up original content every week. We have standards. We aren’t going to shovel out crap just to get clicks. If we even have just 3 dedicated readers, then that’s worth it for us.

So at the closing of the craziest year in a long time, I leave you with these words of advice.

Create things, try new things, branch out.
Buy that board game, invite friends over, and go to that place in Dayton you’ve been thinking about.

2017 will be here shortly, just keep your head down and pray for Betty White. Soon, we’ll be bringing you our very best articles and news that we can, regular as ever.

And if nothing else, we’ll have more pictures of sexy people, more BGNs and less crap.

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/geek-gab/theft-of-oc-not-okay/feed/03211Roll Out to D20: A Bar With Characters Tonight!http://www.geekdayton.com/delicious-dayton/roll-d20-bar-characters-tonight/
http://www.geekdayton.com/delicious-dayton/roll-d20-bar-characters-tonight/#commentsTue, 27 Dec 2016 13:29:25 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3168If you’ve somehow missed all the news about the new board game/craft beer bar opening up in Kettering, I’m impressed. Not the good kind of impressed, though. You should really get out more, this place is awesome. I got a sneak peek a couple weeks back, and I can safely report that Andrew Sparks and Chrissy Cooper, owners of D20 and co-conspirators in the art of “turning (their) hobbies tax-deductible”, definitely know their stuff. I was hopelessly outclassed by Andrew’s knowledge of craft beer, coming from his wealth of experience in both drinking and selling it. With 20 taps serving 18 beers … Read more

]]>If you’ve somehow missed all the news about the new board game/craft beer bar opening up in Kettering, I’m impressed. Not the good kind of impressed, though. You should really get out more, this place is awesome. I got a sneak peek a couple weeks back, and I can safely report that Andrew Sparks and Chrissy Cooper, owners of D20 and co-conspirators in the art of “turning (their) hobbies tax-deductible”, definitely know their stuff. I was hopelessly outclassed by Andrew’s knowledge of craft beer, coming from his wealth of experience in both drinking and selling it. With 20 taps serving 18 beers along with a mead and cider, there’s sure to be something that fits your taste. If you’re not sure what you want, talk to the very knowledgeable gentlemen behind the bar. They’ve each been working on their own nerd-specific cocktails, along with all the classics.

Don’t worry that the gaming half of the equation has been treated with less reverence, though. Upon asking the poor soul in charge of inventorying their massive libraries sitting at the bar, he knew they had at least 79 RPG books from various systems at that exact moment. And then, there’s the games. When I was there, they hadn’t finalized the full list yet, so they gave me a lowball estimate of 300 games. As you can see below, there’s plenty of variety.

Two bookshelves filled with heaven. And Jenga.

As for tables, they have whatever you may need for your group. I was told that the three different table sizes were each chosen for particular reasons. The two-seaters are perfect for a Magic: The Gathering duel with plenty of space for Andrew’s own particular decks. As someone who’s played MTG on less-than-ideal tables many a time, I understand why this choice was important to him. The four-seaters are the perfect size for most board games, along with a drink and food for each player. And the 8-10 tops are for RPG campaigns (or Betrayal at House on the Hill, if you’re a masochist). Evidently, space at those tables are a hot commodity, so if you want to move your campaign to D20, you may want to stake a claim soon.

Speaking of food, D20 takes an interesting stance on providing it: they don’t. They’ve got small snack items like pretzels, chips, and even ramen, but they want to focus on drinks. You’re free to bring in outside food, and they’ve even worked out a deal with the Chinese restaurant right next door so you can have your food brought over without having to leave your seat. They’ve also worked out deals with local pizza places, so ask them about those if you’re interested. I’m personally thinking that board games and Cousin Vinny’s Tuesday Madness are going to make a perfect combo.

And they’re this busy before the bar’s technically *open*.

You’d be forgiven in thinking the bookshelves visible in the above photowere the game shelves. Those are actually holding the over 300 books available in their reading nook, ranging from popular manga to Lovecraftian works. It has couches and armchairs for the less-gaming inclined friends you might try dragging along.

There’s also no TVs at this bar, keeping the ambiance decidedly “pub-esque” which I’m sure will add something to anyone playing DND. Hell, there’s even torches on the wall above the entrance. Chrissy mentioned they may move into showing public domain sci-fi flicks on a projector in the future on certain days, but as for now, this bar is a screenless. So if anything I’ve mentioned appeals to you (and how could it not, really, there’s something for everyone), head on over to D20 tonight for their official first day of business. And tell them I sent you.

D20: A Bar With Characters is located at 2144 East Whipp Rd, Kettering, Ohio. D20 is an all-ages establishment from 11am to 8pm, at which point, people under 21 should be in bed anyway. They close at 1am. You can find them on Facebook for information as to beers on tap, planned events, updated hours, and more. Thanks to Andrew and Chrissy for putting up with extra guests during their week leading up to Beta Mode, it was much appreciated. Hot chocolate’s on the menu now, right?

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/delicious-dayton/roll-d20-bar-characters-tonight/feed/13168Christmas Movies For The Rest Of Ushttp://www.geekdayton.com/movies/christmas-movies/
http://www.geekdayton.com/movies/christmas-movies/#respondFri, 23 Dec 2016 13:34:40 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3174Ever since I can remember, I’ve been force-fed the standard “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” etc. Well, maybe not ever since I can remember, as I recall watching “The Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Toxic Avenger” as a six year old. Ever since I can remember my parents realizing the choices they make with regard to what my impressionable brain was exposed to, I had to endure the mundane, albeit well produced, crap the masses said was appropriate for the yule tide. While I still have nostalgia for the stop-action Abominable Snow Man (mostly … Read more

]]>Ever since I can remember, I’ve been force-fed the standard “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” etc. Well, maybe not ever since I can remember, as I recall watching “The Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Toxic Avenger” as a six year old. Ever since I can remember my parents realizing the choices they make with regard to what my impressionable brain was exposed to, I had to endure the mundane, albeit well produced, crap the masses said was appropriate for the yule tide. While I still have nostalgia for the stop-action Abominable Snow Man (mostly because I grew up to appreciate the works of Ray Harryhausen), I never really got the warm fuzzies from the standards. Let’s make a list of new standards, some of which you may already enjoy as part of your Christmas tradition…

Ghostbusters 1 & 2. This is arguable, but don’t tell my wife. I don’t know that the time of year is ever mentioned, but I’m pretty sure the first GB takes place around New Years (hence the party a stereotypical nerd can get a ton of people to come to), and I don’t believe the second explicitly mentions it, but it’s definitely taking place during Christmas. Regardless, I’m still going to display my inflatable Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from Halloween until the new year.

A Christmas Horror Story. I tried watching “Krampus”. I made it about twenty minutes in before I fell asleep. In all fairness, this isn’t unusual for me. However, I had zero desire to watch the rest when I woke up. “A Christmas Horror Story” on the other hand, I adored, and it had Krampus done in a much more satisfying way. Added bonus: Bill Shatner!

Batman Returns. Arguably the most underrated comic book movie of all time. If not for the (comical? sadistic? comisatistical?) portrayal of The Penguin, it may have been in the running for an award or two. I mean, come on. Michael Keaton finally being taken seriously in a role he was born 6 inches too short to portray. Micheal Pfeiffer simultaneously confusing people trying to spell Micheal, Michael, Pfeiffer, and masturbation all in the same article. Those same people trying to master their worst Christopher Walken impersonation. I love Danny DeVito, but…

On second though, this was darker than I remember. I can’t wait to rewatch it with my loved-ones! (Thank you Tim Burton!)

The Star Wars Holiday Special. Okay. I know this is absolute garbage. But it still has entertainment value, especially for fans of the franchise, if for no reason other than to appreciate how far the franchise has come. This movie was up against what was meant to be the blockbuster of the goddamned millennium, Clash of the Titans! (sorry Ray Harryhausen) Everyone involved with both the movie and the special gave a rat’s ass about it because they assumed it would flop. Which makes this gem even more enjoyable, albeit no easier to watch.

So, buck the trend. Watch something you may actually enjoy with your child. Sure, you may have to cover their eyes on occasion, but that’s a small price to pay for sharing the joy this holiday season.

]]>http://www.geekdayton.com/movies/christmas-movies/feed/03174Doug’s reading girly comics!!http://www.geekdayton.com/comic-books/girly-comics/
http://www.geekdayton.com/comic-books/girly-comics/#respondFri, 16 Dec 2016 20:35:06 +0000http://www.geekdayton.com/?p=3144I’m probably not supposed to have an opinion on girly comics, but let’s go! Doug reads girl comics I picked up Hawkeye this past week. No more Cliff, we’re in Kate-town now. Katherine “Kate” Bishop, a relatively new character in the Marvel Universe, she was released in 2005. She takes over the Hawkeye mantel now and again. One issue down and I’m already hooked. I went back to my LCS and told them to add Hawkeye to my pull list. “Add that girl Hawkeye book to my list.” I realized something then, I read a fair amount of comics with female … Read more

]]>I’m probably not supposed to have an opinion on girly comics, but let’s go!

Doug reads girl comics

I picked up Hawkeye this past week. No more Cliff, we’re in Kate-town now. Katherine “Kate” Bishop, a relatively new character in the Marvel Universe, she was released in 2005. She takes over the Hawkeye mantel now and again.

One issue down and I’m already hooked.

I went back to my LCS and told them to add Hawkeye to my pull list. “Add that girl Hawkeye book to my list.” I realized something then, I read a fair amount of comics with female leads. I’m progressive!!

Who the hell cares indeed.

SO LAY OFF ME FEMINISTS!

Kidding. But there are a number of really solid female led comics out there.

I could seriously go on. There are like 5 current series just based around Spider-Man using female leads.

Point is, I’m going to read comics based on the writing and the art. That’s it. If it was a comic about a ram and a flying thing having a baby (who narrates) and they’re all running away from a tv-headed robot, I’d read it. The fact that two of the main characters are female wouldn’t even come into play.

On the other side of the skirt

Meanwhile, I’ve stopped reading Spider-Man 2099, Action Comics, and Deadpool, because frankly…. the writing has gotten pretty terrible. I know, hearsay, but for me the parts and bits on the lead don’t matter as much as the words and colors on the page.

For that matter, I loooved DC Comic Bombshells, but stopped reading it when they started to over-sexualize female characters. I still have Gotham City Sirens trades on my pull-list, they’ll just round out the single issue complete run I have (so much for my over-sexualizing comments I suppose.)

I don’t like what they’re doing to the Harley Quinn character. She originally appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, in episode 7 Joker’s Favor. The episode was written by Paul Dini. Who also created the character of Harley Quinn. (Well, co-created with Bruce Timm.) The character of Harley was very specifically used and defined throughout the animated series, and well into the comics.

But at some point she became super-powered in the comics, and…. whatever she’s become in the movies. Last Halloween, how many people did you see dressed like Quinn from Suicide Squad and how many did you see dressed like….

Dangerous powers

Here’s the thing, it’s a dangerous power to be in charge of female comic characters. I’m not even going to tough on DC Superhero Girls. Needless to say, it’s a phenomenon. With a MASSIVE age range too. Kids, young-young kids are getting into it. I’m not saying censor anything, I just hope the comic creators know who sees their characters and how they aspire to look like them. Ya know?

Like I said, last person to have an opinion on this. I just like that comics are becoming more and more welcoming to all sorts. And because of that welcoming nature, we’re getting some really amazing comics out of it. The more people that get into an art form, the more of that art that’ll exist and the longer it’ll exist. That’s how you sustain art. Simple.

This! Like this. Perfect.

But meanwhile, you had to have that shitshow of a prologue to Killing Joke. Why? Why! Batgirl becoming Oracle is fine. IT’S FUCKING FANTASTIC ACTUALLY. Let girls in wheelchairs know that they too can be a superhero.

No cleavage? It’ll never sell.

If you feel like you must oversexualize female comic characters to sell comics, go fuck yourself. Have you even seen the Wonder Woman trailer? Have you watched Agent Carter? Jessica Jones? You don’t need those awful 90’s comic versions of females to sell your books. Go work on your writing, or go write for Grimm Fairy Tales. Kids are paying attention to this shit.